Saling The World: Zelda, More Brain Training Top DS Charts

Gamasutra's weekly column, "Saling The World", covers the top five sellers for every available platform in the United States, Japan, and Europe, providing an important update of sales patterns worldwide. This week's charts, with data taken from June 28th, 2007, feature strong debuts for Zelda no Densetsu: Mugen no Sunadokei and More Brain Training from Dr. Kawashima, while Lumines receives an unexpected worldwide boost in popularity thanks to a related PSP hardware exploit. Data for "Saling The World" comes courtesy of the public sales information on Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Amazon.co.jp, with sales split out for each platform and territory, and pre-orders disregarded. This results in a true sense of what games are selling worldwide on the real-time updated service, as follows: Nintendo Wii North America: 1. Mario Party 8 (Nintendo), 2. Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition (Capcom), 3. Wii Play (Nintendo), 4. Pokemon Battle Revolution (Nintendo), 5. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 2. Donkey Kong Taru Jet Race (Nintendo), 3. BioHazard 4: Wii Edition (Capcom), 4. Hajimete no Wii (Nintendo), 5. Hajime no Ippo Revolution (AQ Interactive). UK: 1. Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition (Capcom), 2. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo), 3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (EA Games), 4. Wii Play (Nintendo), 5. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 (EA Sports). Though it may be popular among its targeted demographic, Pokemon Battle Revolution sees a disappointing sales finish in its first week of release in the United States. Despite the continuing popularity of both Pokemon Pearl and Pokemon Diamond on the Nintendo DS, the first Nintendo Wii Pokemon game isn't performing as well as other titles that have been on the market for several weeks prior. In Japan, meanwhile, the just-debuted Donkey Kong Taru Jet Race is performing well in its first week, though its chart longevity is questionable in the face of competition like Wii Sports and Hajimete no Wii. Xbox 360 North America: 1. The Darkness (2K Games), 2. Guitar Hero II Bundle (RedOctane), 3. Forza Motorsport 2 (Microsoft), 4. Gears of War (Microsoft), 5. DiRT (Codemasters). Japan: 1. Saints Row (THQ Japan), 2. Dead Rising -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Capcom), 3. The IdolM@ster (Namco), 4. Trusty Bell: Chopin no Yume (Microsoft), 5. Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter -- Xbox 360 Platinum Collection (Ubisoft). UK: 1. The Darkness (2K Games), 2. Overlord (Codemasters), 3. Forza Motorsport 2 (Microsoft), 4. Forza Motorsport 2: Limited Edition (Microsoft), 5. Colin McRae: DiRT (Codemasters). The Darkness debuts high atop the Xbox 360 sales charts in the U.S. and the UK, and makes its mark as the week's sixth best-selling title across all platforms in the United States. Codemasters sees a banner week in the UK thanks to its Xbox 360 lineup, with both Colin McRae: DiRT and the recent Overlord being among the week's top European sellers. Whether either title will remain on the charts in future weeks is unknown, but for the time being, both are performing admirably against the might of Forza Motorsport 2. PlayStation 3 North America: 1. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft), 2. The Darkness (2K Games), 3. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEA), 4. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda), 5. MotorStorm (SCEA). Japan: 1. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft), 2. FolksSoul: Ushinawareta Denshou (SCEI), 3. Call of Duty 3 (Spike), 4. Ninja Gaiden Sigma (Tecmo), 5. Ridge Racer 7 (Namco). UK: 1. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft), 2. MotorStorm (SCEE), 3. Formula One Championship Edition (SCEE), 4. Resistance: Fall of Man (SCEE), 5. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda). In a surprising turn of events, the much-delayed PlayStation 3 port of the year-old Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas tops the PS3 sales charts in all regions in its first week of release. Meanwhile, the just-released The Darkness sits at #2 in the U.S. -- the Xbox 360 port is thus far proving to be the more popular version by a significant margin. In Japan, Ninja Gaiden Sigma continues to slide down the chart after a disappointing sales start, and might not recover in future weeks. PlayStation 2 North America: 1. Guitar Hero II Bundle (RedOctane), 2. God of War (SCEA), 3. Guitar Hero (RedOctane), 4. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (EA Games), 5. Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix). Japan: 1. Super Robot Taisen Original Generations (Banpresto), 2. Tales of Fandom Vol. 2 -- Luke Version (Namco), 3. Baroque (Sting), 4. Tales of Fandom Vol. 2 -- Tia Version (Namco), 5. Tales of the Abyss -- PlayStation 2 the Best (Namco). UK: 1. Tomb Raider: Anniversary (Eidos), 2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (EA Games), 3. SingStar Pop Hits (SCEE), 4. Final Fantasy XII (Square Enix), 5. Kingdom Hearts II (Square Enix). Though the PlayStation 2 version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ranks high among this week's best-selling PS2 software in Europe, the Nintendo Wii port proves to be the most popular version in the title's debut week in the United States, with the PC version following close behind in sales numbers. The PlayStation 2 has a much greater impact in this week's Japanese sales, with both editions of Tales of Fandom Vol. 2 performing extremely well in their debut week and driving sales of Tales of the Abyss back into the top five. Super Robot Taisen Original Generations also sees impressive debut sales, and could remain on the chart for weeks to come. PC North America: 1. Crazy Machines: The Wacky Contraptions Game (Viva Media), 2. Crazy Machines 1.5 (Viva Media), 3. Nancy Drew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek (Atari), 4. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Blizzard), 5. Starcraft Battle Chest (Blizzard). Japan: 1. Monster Hunter Frontier (Capcom), 2. Eiyuu Densetsu VI: Sora no Kiseki the 3rd (Nihon Falcom), 3. Shinkyouku Soukai Polyphonica Memories White -- First Emotion (Ocelot), 4. Ragnarok Online RJC2007 Memorial Package (Gungho), 5. Shinkyouku Soukai Polyphonica 3 & 4 (Ocelot). UK: 1. World of Warcraft (Blizzard), 2. The Sims 2: H&M Fashion Stuff (EA Games), 3. Overlord (Codemasters), 4. Tomb Raider: Anniversary (Eidos), 5. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Blizzard). The recent release of Crazy Machines 1.5 has driven the original Crazy Machines to the top of the PC sales chart in the United States this week, with both titles currently outpacing the sales of previous sales leaders Nancy Drew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek and World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. Neither Crazy Machines game has received much attention or coverage from traditional gaming outlets, making this week's results especially surprising. As was the case with The White Wolf of Icicle Creek's previous sales success, it appears as though Amazon's PC sales are heavily influenced by its large userbase of casual gamers. Nintendo DS North America: 1. Pokemon Diamond (Nintendo), 2. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 3. Pokemon Pearl (Nintendo), 4. Brain Age (Nintendo), 5. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo). Japan: 1. Zelda no Densetsu: Mugen no Sunadokei (Nintendo), 2. Miru Chikara o Jissen de Kitaeru: DS Ganryoku Training (Nintendo), 3. Kiku! Kaku! Kotoba o Fuyasu! Hajimete no Eigo Training (Benesse), 4. Itadaki Street DS (Square Enix), 5. Ukkari o Nakusou! Bunshou Yomi Training -- YomiTore (Benesse). UK: 1. More Brain Training from Dr. Kawashima (Nintendo), 2. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training (Nintendo), 3. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo), 4. Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo), 5. Nintendogs: Lab & Friends (Nintendo). More Brain Training from Dr. Kawashima is the big news in new Nintendo DS releases this week, as the title has topped the cross-platform bestseller charts in Europe following its recent release. Similar dominance is found in Zelda no Densetsu: Mugen no Sunadokei in its week of release in Japan, as the game is currently the single best-selling software title across all platforms in the region. Benesse's dual release of edutainment titles last week has also proven to be very profitable, with both Kiku! Kaku! Kotoba o Fuyasu! Hajimete no Eigo Training and Ukkari o Nakusou! Bunshou Yomi Training quickly establishing themselves as forces to be reckoned with. PlayStation Portable North America: 1. Lumines (Ubisoft), 2. Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition (Square Enix), 3. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 4. Star Wars Battlefront II (LucasArts), 5. Daxter (SCEA). Japan: 1. Lumines -- PSP the Best (Bandai), 2. Final Fantasy Tactics: Shishi Sensou (Square Enix), 3. Ratchet & Clank 5: Gekitotsu! Dodeka Ginga no MiriMiri Gundan (SCEI), 4. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd (Capcom), 5. World Soccer Winning Eleven 10: Ubiquitous Edition -- PSP the Best (Konami). UK: 1. Lumines -- Platinum (Ubisoft), 2. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Rockstar), 3. Lumines (Ubisoft), 4. Sega Mega Drive Collection (Sega), 5. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar). It's been a long while since Lumines has been on the radar in PSP software sales in any region, but thanks to a recently identified exploit within the title that allows for PSP systems to boot homebrew code, Lumines reigns atop the PSP sales charts in the United States, Japan, and the UK, following an apparent torrent of purchases by would-be PSP hackers. Demand for the two-year-old title has reached such a fevered pitch that it now outsells the recently released U.S. version of Final Fantasy Anniversary Edition, despite the latter title receiving healthy amounts of anticipation from fans of the long-running and popular series. It's unclear at this point whether demand for Lumines will die down anytime soon, but short supply could lead to inflated aftermarket prices in the near future.